I had the same problem, a year in Thailand's heat and the boots just fall to pieces. I have a very knackered pair of merrills for long dry season walks but for the last 3 years I have been using wellingtons in the forest. Too big for carrying on long trips/planes but they sit in the back of my car always and I absolutely love them. Wear them on 99% of my outings.

Currently I have a pair of Alphaburly's, my second pair. They take heaps of abuse and let you mess around in the water as well. I can hike 10-15 ks in them comfortably.
I buy them online from LLBean - delivery is very reliable (I use them a lot because I cannot get trousers, shirts or shoes to fit my big body in Thailand) and delivery costs about 30-40 USD.

My last pair in use a couple of years ago.....(taken by one of our camera traps)

After also losing expensive boots I went for the easy way, also less expensive so a renewal would not be a problem.

I have, for the wet season, a pair of hunting boots, rubber, one piece. They are great, waterproof and because out of one piece they cannot fall apart.

Then for the normal season I just started to use Delta Tactical boots, used by Thai army and police forces in special occasions. They got them in desert colour and black, I have the black pair.
They are produced in China but give an excellent impression for the first couple of trips I made, very solid, easy to get in (I have thick ankles), zipper covered by flaps, tight with laces. They walk like a dream, very good support and no "bending" ankles.

I cannot say how long they will last, but for the purchase price of 1500 baht I can never lose.

My footwear is a little more unusual, but been using it for several years now and I am not likely to change back to a pair of true hiking shoes.

I am using a rubber shoe from Adda. It is the only model (that I have found) of rubber shoes that has a heel to give that bit of extra grip.
The only downside is that occasionally a thorn might pop through the sole, but it is easy to remove.

160-190 baht per pair.
Extremely light, and flexible. It helps me moving more quietly through the jungle.
And they are immediately dry.
I wear them combined with self-made cotton leech protection socks.

I used to spend up to 10000 baht on a pair of hiking shoes, but after travelling around for a couple months they were always beaten up and in need of replacement. It takes ages for them to dry after rain.
And they are too heavy, I remember they weight 1600 gram for a pair...

A picture of my jungle footwear. I have a few pairs. Most are black, these happen to be dark blue.

I was trekking with some thai forest rangers the other day, I had on my North Face hiking shoes, he had on a pair of 50baht flip flops. Yet I was slipping and sliding all over the place and he never even broke sweat, amazing! those little guys are like a hot knife through butter going through the undergrowth and I was like a London Bus trying to keep up with a formula 1 car. humiliating indeed!
Point being I totally see flip flops working great, I just wouldn't want to step on a viper with them on!!

joeisan wrote: Then for the normal season I just started to use Delta Tactical boots, used by Thai army and police forces in special occasions. They got them in desert colour and black, I have the black pair.

One place that comes to mind (if you are in Nakorn Nayok) is the local army store called "little cowboy" opposite Wat Kotchasan Mani on 33. I always pop in there for a look when I coming back from Khao Yai.

In Bangkok, Atsadang Rd has all the army/navy/camo gear you will need.

I finally got my Lacrosse Alphaburly boots. I tryed the last 3 days at Khao Phanom Bencha National Park. Was a very wet situation (plenty of rain every afternoon)

My first impression is overall positive. They are high enough to wade the locall stream, the grip is average, sometimes slippery but maybe just the sole rubber is new. The feet after 6 hours of walk was enough dry. The shoe is confortable, the only downsize I can find is that the Wellington are heavy and not the best tool for a long trek. But for long treks I got something Chinese that I hope better than the first Magnum boots I bought less than two years ago:

The new are some Chinese brand, very light and confortable, waterproof (they claim) and paid by Alibaba around 50 us$ plus delivery